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People with more education tend to have lower unemployment rates
than those with less education. The jobless rate for workers with
a BA degree or higher was only 3.8% in March versus 11.1% for
those with less than a high school diploma and 7.6% for those
with a diploma, but no college.

The bad news is that higher education may be losing its value as
a sure way to get a job, especially a good one. That’s because
too many people are going to college and majoring in subjects
that may not meet the requirements of the available jobs. So
there may be an excess supply of highly educated people who
aren’t qualified to fill the job openings.

In March, there were 49.2 million people in the labor force with
a BA degree or higher. That’s up 20.4 million in the past 20
years. Over the same period, the number with some college or an
associate degree rose 9.2 million to 37.2 million in March. While
the unemployment rates for college educated workers are
relatively low, their jobless rates currently remain relatively
high at this late stage of the business cycle.

Just as troubling is that many of the people coming out of
college may be taking jobs requiring relatively low skills. If
so, then they are inadvertently boosting the unemployment rates
for people with less education. People with college degrees may
be crowding out those with high school degrees in the labor
market. The former college students are increasingly saddled with
debts to pay for their education and are especially anxious to
get a job, any job to make their loan payments. Of course, quite
a few are simply defaulting on their loans.

Dr. Ed's Blog

Today's Morning Briefing: Why No Jolt in JOLTS? (1) JOLTS showing
fewer job gains than official tally. (2) Help is wanted. So why
aren’t hires rising faster? (3) Maybe job seekers aren’t
qualified for the jobs. (4) Could more job openings cause
unemployed to stop looking? (5) Fed’s doves won’t be happy if
jobless rate falls on shrinking labor force. (6) Average duration
of unemployment remains too high. (7) A degree will still get you
a job, but maybe not one that requires a degree. (8) College
degrees crowding out high school diplomas? (9) Analysts spent Q1
cutting earnings estimates across the board. (10) Fiscal Cliff
deal could boost earnings. (More for
subscribers.)